The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1887-10-28


"sHolly,s" she answered, speaking the
word with difficulty, and yet with . most
charming accent "and what's .Holly'in
"sHory' Il a prickly tree" I said.
80. Well, thou hast q prickly and yet
. treelike look. Strong, art thou, and
ugly, but, IL my wisdom be not at fault,
honest at the core, and . star to lean On.
Also one who thinks. But stay, Holly,
stand not there; enter with mo and be
seated by me. would not see thee crawl
before me like those slaves. am aweary
OF their worship and their terror; some
times when they vex mi Icould blast them
Tor very sport. and to see the rest turn
white, even to the heart;;" aud She held
the curtain aside with her ivory hand to
Let me pass in.
lentered, shuddering. This woman wal
very terrible. Within the curtains was q
recess about twelve feet by ten, and in the
recess was a couch, and q table wherein
stood fruit and sparkling water. BY 1t ut
its end was avessellike a font cut in carved
stone, also full of pure water. The place
was softly lit with lamps formed out Of
the beautiful vessels of which I have spok-
en-, and the air and curtains were full Of o
subtle perfume. Perfume, too, seemed to
emanate from the glorious hair and white
clingtng vestmcnts of She herself. 1 en-
tered the little ROOM, and there stood un.
certain.
"Sit," said She, pointing to the couch.
AT present thou hast no cause to fear me.
II thou hast cause, thou shalt not fear for
long, for l shall slay thee. Therefore let
thy heart be light"
sat down on the end of the couch near
to the font-lilie basin Of water, and She
sunk down softly on to the other end.
Nov. Holly" she said, chow CONTEST
thou to speak Arabicf 1t is mine own dear
tongue, for Arabian am l by my birth.
Yet dOst thou not speak 1t as we used to
speak. Some of the words seem changed,
even as among these men. The Amahag.
ger have debased and deiiled its purity, so
that | have to talk to them in what is to
me another tongue"
II have studied it," answered, "foY
many years. The language is spoken in
Egypt and elsewhcre."
$50 it is still spoken, and there is yet IN
Egypt? And what Pharaoh sits upon the
throne? Still III of the spawn OF the
Persian Ochus, or are the Archaemeniaus
gomez"
1.-The Pcrsians have been gone from
Egypt for nigh two thousand years, and
since then the Ptolemys, the Romans, ana
many others have flourished and held sway
upon the Nile, md fallen when their time
was ripc," 1 said, agll.st. "Nvhat canst
thou know of the Persian ArtaXerxcs."
She laughed, and made no ,.nswcr, and
again a cold chill went through me. "And
Greece" she sail-'is there still II Greece!
ALI! l loved the Greeks. Beautiful were
they as the day, and clever, but fierce at
heart and tickle, Notwithstanding"
YES" l said, ''tllcrc is a Greece; and
just now is it once more a people. Yet the
Greeks of to-day are not what the Greeks
of the old time were, and Greece herself is
but Il mockery of the Greece tina was"
$50. The Hebrews, arc they yet at
Jerusalem? And does the temple that the
wise king built stand? And if so, what
God do they worship therein? Is their
Messiah come, of whom they talked SO
much, and does he rule the earth!'
"The Jews are broken and gone, and
tho fragments of their people strew the
world, and Jerusalem is no more. AS for
the temple that Herod buiit-'
"Hcrod?" she said. 81 know not Herod.
But 60 on"
"The Romans burned it. and the Roman
eagles flew across its ruins"
$50, SO! They were Il greatpeople, those
Romans, and Went straight to their end
-ay, they sped to it like Fate. or like their
own eagles on their prey-and left peace
"Solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant,"
I suggested.
"Ah, thou canst speak the Latin tongue,
too," she said. in surprise. SIT hath o
strange ring in my ears after all these
days, and it seems to me that thy accent
does not fall rs the Romans put it. Who
vas it wrote that? know not the saying,
but it Is @ true II of that great people. 1t
seems that l have met a learned man-one
whose hands have held the water of the
worlds knowledge. Knowest thou Greek
also?"
"Yes, oh, queen, and something of He
brew, but not to speak them. They are all
dead languages now"
She clapped her hands In childish glce.
"Of q truth, ugly tree that thou art, thou
growest the fruits of wisdom, oh, Holly"
she said. but of those Jews, whom I
hated, for they called mo 'hcatlcn,' when
l would have taught them philosophy.
Did their Messiah come, and doth he rule
the world?"
"Their Messiah came" ! answered, with
reverence; but he came poor and lowly,
and they would have none of Him. They
scourged Him, and cruciiied Him upon a
tree, but yet His words and His works live
on, for He was the Son of God, and nowo of
a truth, He rules half tho world, but not
with an empire of the world"
"Ah, the fierce-hearted wolves" she